UNICEF Radio 2005High quality mp3 files for broadcasters
to download free of charge atwww.unicef.org/videoaudio/video_unicef_radio.htmlPGM_007: Protecting Children - Landmines * 14-year-old Cambodian boy talks about
stepping on a landmine and losing his legsLet us know what you think! radio@unicef.org

Although the Cambodian
government originally tried to keep the country out of the Vietnam-War,
Cambodia also became a battlefield. On April 17, 1975 the Khmer Rouge captured
the capital Phnom Penh. The terror regime of Pol Pot is said to have cost
the lives of some 1.5 Mio people. In 1979 a Vietnamese intervention overthrew
the government and the Pol Pot guerilla re-entered into a guerilla war.Because of its recent history Cambodia
has been the target area of many international broadcasters as well as
clandestine broadcasting from guerilla groups and opposing parties. Currently,
although there is much partisan broadcasting there also is a counter balance
of independent broadcasting both from domestic broadcasters and reknowned
international broadcasters like Radio Australia
and Radio France Internationale.In the annual worldwide index of press
freedom published by Reporters Without Borders in October 2004, Cambodia
was listed as no. 109 of 167 countries surveyed.

1992-1993 Radio
UNTACAccording
to a treaty signed in October 1991 in Paris, the United Nations took over
the running of the country to prepare free and democratic elections and
a reconciliatory process. As part of this process the UN Transitional Authority
in Cambodia (UNTAC) also operated a radio station.Radio UNTAC
went on the air on 30 July 1992. Because of the shattered broadcasting
infrastructure in Cambodia, the UN used the remaining medium wave transmitter
in Phnom Penh and established smaller medium wave facilities in three regional
centres. For one year, one and a half hours daily were also broadcast by
the Thai megawatt medium wave transmitter of the Voice of Free Asia, a
joint operation of Radio Thailand and the Voice of America. In the election
month of Mai 1993 the Cambodian transmitters of Radio UNTAC covered the
country with 15 h of programmes daily. The UN closed down their radio service
on 23 September 1993 and handed the facilities over to the elected government.Although 90 per cent of the voters went
to the polls, the result of the 3 Mrd USD UN effort remained mixed, because
the loosing party of Hun-sen did not concede defeat. So the situation did
remain unstable. Nonetheless, compared with the situation one or two decades
ago, the situation did improve.

In a more recent development two opposition
groups have bought air time on international short wave broadcasting stations.
In February 2001 the opposition Sam Rainsy Party started a weekly 60 minute
Voice
of Justice from a short wave station "located in a democratic country
not very far from Cambodia". The SRP had been denied access to airwaves
inside Cambodia where loyalists of current Cambodian Prime Min Hun Sen
control state radio and TV. In May 2001 an ethnic Khmer now living in the
US started a weekly
Voice of Khmer Krom Radio
addressing Khmer communities in South Vietnam and Cambodia.

Women’s Media Centre of Cambodia is a Phnom
Penh-based independent non-profit organisation that uses the media to promote
social change in Cambodian society. It was founded on International Women’s
Day in 1993 by five Cambodian women following the UN-sponsored national
elections held that year. The stated goals of the Women’s Media Centre
are: 1) to raise awareness of social issues from the unique perspective
of Cambodian women; 2) to improve the status of women by promoting socially
conscious TV, radio and video programmes; 3) to increase women’s participation
in mainstream media.To this end, the Women’s Media Centre:
1) produces weekly TV programmes from its own studio that are broadcast
at peak times on Cambodia’s three largest TV channels; 2) launched its
own radio station “FM 102” in 1999 whose 10,000 watt FM signal reaches
60% of Cambodia’s population with 16 hours per day of educational and socially
informative programming; 3) employs a staff of more than 40 women at its
purpose-built studio complex in Phnom Penh. Audience research commissioned
by the Danish Institute for Human Rights in 2003 found “FM 102” to be the
most listened to radio station in Cambodia. The Centre has just been nominated
for this year’s One World Broadcasting Trust Special Award for Development
Media.On 2 May 2004, a new weekly call-in show
for young people made its debute on Phnom Penh radio station “FM 102”.
Produced by the Women's Media Centre of Cambodia and funded by the UK's
BBC World Service Trust, Os Tos Mhong! (“COOL!” in English) is broadcast
live every Sunday from 0800 to 0900 h local time. Hosted by 24-year old
Try Vannak and 22-year old Phorn Phasoka , the programme is meant to be
a space where young people can voice their opinions and ask questions about
the things that are important in their lives. Each week, the show will
focus on a particular topic complementing calls with advice and information
to young people on personal, health and education issues of interest to
them.

2005 Crackdown on independent mediaIn what may be the most severe assault
on dissent in Cambodia in years, Prime Minister Hun Sen launched a crackdown
on government critics, ordering the arrests of a prominent radio station
director and several other civil society leaders, report the Southeast
Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) and Human Rights Watch.The crackdown began during Hun Sen's visit
to Vietnam on 10-12 October 2005, where he signed a border agreement with
Vietnamese authorities. On 11 October, police officers arrested Mom Sonando,
director of Beehive Radio FM 105, on defamation charges. Beehive Radio,
which broadcasts on 105 FM, is a prime source for Cambodians to hear Radio
Free Asia, the Voice of America, and other international broadcasters.
The statopm had aired an interview with a France-based Cambodian dissident
who suggested that the border treaty allowed Vietnam to control Cambodian
lands. Sonando, 64, is currently being held at the Preysor Detention Center
outside Phnom Penh, reports SEAPA. He was questioned for two hours at Phnom
Penh Municipality Court on 11 October. Sonando is the third journalist
to face government-initiated lawsuits in recent months, notes SEAPA. Following
his arrest, many of Cambodia's leading human rights advocates, trade union
activists and opposition party members have fled the country or gone into
hiding.After his visit to Vietnam, Hun Sen threatened
to prosecute anyone who alleges that he or the Cambodiangovernment had "sold land" to Vietnam.
He called such statements "acts of treason." Authorities have since arrested
Rong Chhun, a member of the Cambodia Watchdog Council, a non-governmental
organisation that has criticised the border agreement. No arrest warrant
was produced, but he was charged with defamation and incitement under articles
60 and 63 of the Cambodian penal code. Under this law, individuals can
be detained for up to six months pending trial, with no opportunity for
posting bail. If convicted, Rong Chhun could be jailed for up to five years
for incitement and one year for defamation, and be fined up to US$2,500.Charges have also been laid against other
members of the Cambodia Watchdog Council, including CheaMony, President of the Free Trade Union
Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Ea Channa, representative of the Student's
Movement for Democracy, and Men Nath, president of the Civil Servants Association.Visit these links:- SEAPA: http://www.seapabkk.org/newdesign/newsdetail.php?No=402- Human Rights Watch: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/10/18/cambod11892.htm- Text of Hun Sen's Speech Defending Border
Agreement:http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/10/18/cambod11891.htm- Bee Hive Radio: http://www.sbk.com.kh- Radio Free Asia: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/politics/cambodia_sonando/- Freedom House Report on Cambodia:http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2004/countryratings/cambodia.htm- IFEX Alerts on Cambodia: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/146/

Radio station chief freed but still
facing chargesReporters Without Borders welcomed the
release of Mam Sonando, head of radio station Sombok Khmum (Ruche
FM 105), two human rights activists, Kem Sokha and Pa Nguon Teang, and
trade unionist Rong Chhun, but called on prime minister Hun Sen to drop
defamation charges again them that could bring year-long jailsentences. The organisation said an interview
done about a border dispute by Mam Sonando, whose health deteriorated in
prison, had not slandered the prime minister and that the journalist had
simply been doing his job. The radio station is one of the country's few
independent ones.The four men were greeted by a crowd of
about 100 well-wishers as they emerged from Prey Sar prison, near Phnom
Penh, soon after a city court had released them on bail at Hun Sen's request.
The prime minister acted after a meeting with visiting US assistant secretary
of state Christopher Hill. A government official said the move was
"a present for Mr Hill to mark the opening of the new US embassy"
in Phnom Penh. The US had criticised the arrest of the four.Mam Sonando was arrested at his home on
11 October 2005, 20 days after broadcasting an interview with Sean Pengse,
head of the French-based Cambodia Borders Committee, which opposes handing
theislands of Phu Quoc and Krachakses to
Vietnam. Hun Sen had said he would sue anyone who dared to suggest
he was giving away Cambodian territory. (Reporters Without Borders Press
release 17 January 2006)